Benson Ford

Second son of Edsel Bryant Ford I and Eleanor Lowthian Clay, he was at first named Edsel Junior, but re-named Benson, a Hudson family name, his maternal grandmother's maiden name. Easygoing, affable and good-humored, he worked in the Ford Rouge with Henry Ford II, his older brother, until their enlistment after Pearl Harbor. In June 1943, he and Henry II represented the 41.9% of shares that had been held by their father, Edsel I. One of the 1950s Ford Motor Co. directors and vice-presidents, he ran the Mercury Div. 1948-56, then took charge of Lincoln-Mercury dealer relations. He died an alcoholic.